Breakaway characters

Also known as David

Appears from the start

A former soldier and recently unemployed security contractor in Milwaukee. As the cloud crisis drives people south, he concentrates on getting his parents safely to family in San Antonio before choosing his own next commitment.

Appears from the start

A covert Jeraptha officer who treats the destruction of ships intended for humanity as a treaty failure requiring a firm response. He presses the Rindhalu for accountability while assessing what the compromised transfer means.

Also known as Joe, Bishop

First appears in chapter 2

Commander of Valkyrie and leader of humanity's special missions. With Earth threatened by a Maxolhx cloud and the promised Jeraptha ships destroyed, he seeks a way to compel the enemy to reverse its attack despite humanity's weak conventional forces.

First appears in chapter 2

The Elder AI aboard Valkyrie and Bishop's essential partner in planning humanity's response. His extraordinary technical abilities offer options unavailable to the under-equipped fleet, though even he cannot simply erase every operational obstacle.

First appears in chapter 2

An Earth-based submind operating through a mixed alien processor system. Isolated from Skippy, it monitors communications and security, tries to limit violence, and helps David move his parents past the growing disruption.

Also known as Simms

First appears in chapter 3

Valkyrie's executive officer and a practical counterweight to Bishop. She helps evaluate the opening strike against the Maxolhx.

First appears in chapter 3

The Maxolhx military leader behind the pressure on humanity. His objective is to draw the emerging human fleet to Earth, destroy it, and use the resulting loss of hope to force humanity into an unfavorable settlement.

First appears in chapter 5

An experienced Air Force dropship pilot given temporary command of Flying Dutchman for a stealth mission near Earth. Although more comfortable flying than delegating, she accepts that her combat experience makes her suited to avoiding an unnecessary engagement.

First appears in chapter 6

Valkyrie's allied ship AI, which guides the vessel out of the Maxolhx shipyard while Skippy concentrates on the precise jump into its maintenance bay.

Also known as Zhao

First appears in chapter 7

Commander of humanity's fleets. After the discovery of a hidden servicing station, he redirects the refit program toward the new facility, balancing the chance for rapid improvement against the danger posed by senior-species forces.

First appears in chapter 8

Flying Dutchman's AI and a fleet-support presence who appears through a new holographic avatar. She assists personnel across ships and bases while the vessel receives an independent human commander for its next assignment.

Also known as Adams

First appears in chapter 9

A special operator and liaison to the Mavericks who helps extract Bishop's family from Earth. She identifies herself to his parents as his girlfriend while emphasizing that their evacuation is necessary to prevent an enemy from using them against his decisions.

Also known as Perkins

First appears in chapter 9

A colonel, Mavericks commander, and planner for the renewed Alien Legion. During the covert Earth extraction, she takes temporary command of Flying Dutchman while its assigned commander leads the insertion flight.

Also known as Chang

First appears in chapter 9

A senior UNEF officer targeted for extraction from Earth with his family so his starship-command experience can be put to use.

First appears in chapter 9

A special-operations pilot who flies a Panther during the covert extraction from Earth. Her mission includes recovering Colonel Chang, protecting his family, and moving early-warning equipment off the planet.

First appears in chapter 10

A former alien military leader who continues covert fitness and weapons training after the Ruhar suppress formal training among his people. He accepts David's invitation to join a dangerous, still-undisclosed operation.

Also known as Marty

First appears in chapter 12

The self-selected name of the first Maxolhx relativistic-dart AI secretly captured by Skippy. It reports the condition and membership of its formation after its authorization system is altered without alerting its master system.

Also known as Smythe

First appears in chapter 13

The special-operations commander who develops a defensible list of targets for humanity's captured relativistic darts. He raises the safer alternatives, then supports Bishop's selection of a heavily protected Maxolhx research world.

Also known as Skippy's Earth submind

First appears in chapter 16

The name adopted by Skippy's isolated Earth-based submind. David reports that Grumpy is lonely, and Skippy recognizes that prolonged separation and the failure of Earth's digital infrastructure could make the submind unstable before it can be reabsorbed.

First appears in chapter 17

A Star Team operator assigned to recover Elder wormhole-controller modules during a museum raid. He helps secure the devices while the team works to conceal which artifacts it truly values from local investigators.

First appears in chapter 20

Valkyrie's new gunnery officer, responsible for developing the ship's orbital-bombardment doctrine.

First appears in chapter 22

A senior UNEF representative among the humans on Paradise. Recovering from burns, she resists Ruhar measures to disarm, ground, and confine the human population after the breakaway operations alter relations.